''Exclusive Interview'' For Celinedionforum.com,

[Shamrock_1982]

Interview for www.celinedionforum.com with Celine impersonator, Laura Landauer.

 

 

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5649/lauralandauer.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Darren: Hey Laura how are you?

 

Laura: I’m good Darren, Thanks! Just gearing up for the holidays.

 

Darren: I’ve wanted to interview you for quite some time, so thank you so much for giving me this opportunity, I’m excited!

 

Laura: Oh it is my pleasure! I think the celinedionforum is a great thing. Full of wonderful information. You guys do a fantastic job with it!

 

Darren: That’s very kind of you to say so, thank you!

Can we begin by finding out a little bit more about you if that’s ok, in terms of, you’re family, were you grew up etc.

 

Laura: Sure. I was born and raised in Montreal. I am an only child. My parents have always been very supportive of me and I am so thankful for that.

 

Darren: You studied theatre at Dawson College in Montreal, but how did you first become interested in this subject... was there something/someone you looked up to at the time, that made you think, ‘’I want to do that’’?

 

Laura: I have been interested in performing since my first ballet recital when I was 4 years old. I performed fairly regularly in community theatre all through my childhood and teens, and after high school went on to study it seriously at Dawson College in the Professional Theatre Department. I was a shy kid but have always enjoyed that special rush when I’m onstage in front of an audience. My idols at the time were mostly musical theatre stars like Pattie LuPone, Elaine Paige…

 

Darren: Having completed you’re studies in Montreal, what did you then move on to do?

 

Laura: Well, after theatre school I immediately landed a job with a children’s theatre company. We travelled extensively throughout the Province of Quebec for the school year. It was an incredible experience in so many ways. Our tour included all the very remote communities in the far north and we flew in 7 seater planes. We had a ball.

 

After that, some of my former Dawson classmates and I moved to Toronto where it seemed at the time there would be more opportunities. I did some more children’s theatre but also did some really interesting alternative productions and Fringe Festivals, and dinner theatre musicals. I was also was extremely lucky to work with Steve Gallucio (“Mambo Italiano” writer/director) on his first play “My Mom was on the Radio.”

 

Darren: As an entertainer, you can sing, dance, act, and over the years you have impersonated stars such as Elvis (EllaVis), Cher and Celine… But was impersonating something you had intended doing right from the start, or how did this come about, and why did you choose those three characters/celebrities in particular?

 

Laura: To be honest, until fairly recently I had no idea that an impersonator industry even existed. I was at this gallery opening and an artist friend of mine introduced me to her husband who said he was an Elvis Impersonator. I thought he was joking at first but he was pretty serious and told me all about the World’s Biggest Elvis Competition which takes place yearly in Collingwood, about 1.5 hours north of Toronto. He insisted that I looked like a female Elvis and I should compete in the next one, which was about 3 months away. He said the impersonators got to perform for about 50,000 people and kind of dared me to do it, so I said okay. I sewed myself up a ‘68 Comeback Special leather suit, learned some moves and some songs, and was the first (and only as far as I know) person to perform “Elvis had he been born a woman”. I had so much fun and for the most part the fans were pretty into it.

 

A camera crew followed me around for the whole festival. They made a documentary about me and the guy who got me into it, called King and Queen, but it was never widely released. I should post some of it sometime, it’s really funny.

 

EllaVis was a lot of fun but there wasn’t a lot of call for it professionally, so I decided to try Cher, because agents were telling me I would get tons of work as Cher. So I did that for a short while, and the work and money were pretty steady, but the shows were not that satisfying.

 

I think I knew all along I should be doing Celine, people have said I resembled her since I was a teenager, and I’m also from Montreal, but I thought (can you believe this!) that she was kind of boring. Why would I just want to stand there and sing ballads? But then I researched her and – Oh boy was I wrong! I got to know her and realized she is probably the least boring entertainer on the planet! And of course, along the way I also became a big, big fan of hers, as a musician and a personality.

 

Darren: You later decided to step it up a notch and focus mainly on impersonating Celine… posting various videos on YouTube such as the famous ‘’Celine Dion Workout’’ which has had close to 230,000 views, performed you’re show ‘’Celine Speaks’’ at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and have even appeared as Celine in the movie ‘’The Love Guru’’.

But what was it that made you decide that you only wanted to work on the Celine character?

 

Laura: The truth is that doing Celine for me was a whole different thing than doing Cher. Cher was strictly an impersonating gig, the shows were Legends type shows, there were certain expectations and you couldn’t really deviate from that, which didn’t leave any room for creativity.

 

When I started doing Celine and the online videos got popular (I actually have over a million views on my Celine videos over various sites), the opportunities became much more varied and more interesting. I started getting appearances alongside Canada’s best known comedians, like Debra DiGiovanni, Martha Chaves, Trevor Boris, Steve Patterson, and I could really pick and chose what I wanted to do and what I didn’t want to do. For me it’s a chance to perform but also to write and create… My Celine is in demand at the moment, I enjoy doing it immensely, and so that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m sure I will move on to other things in the future.

 

Darren: I have to say that as a huge Celine fan, you have got Celine down to a fine art; the look, the accent, the costumes, and her mannerisms… it’s amazing!

So I’m guessing you must have studied/watched hours worth of her DVDs, TV appearances, and listened to her music, to help you become her… and you make it look effortless.

What if anything, would you say is the easiest and hardest part of being Celine Dion?

 

Laura: Mimicking has always come fairly naturally to me, and not just celebs, but people around me, friends, directors, the cashier at the grocery store... Yes, I have watched and listened and read a lot, but I don’t really study details so much as a person’s overall character. I think my subconscious must pick up the details. Somehow I just breathe in the character. But on a conscious level once I get my hair and makeup done and get into costume – I’m there girlfren!

The hardest part, I’m not going to lie to you, is to sing like Celine Dion- the greatest pop singer/belter of all time! My natural voice is considered to be lyric soprano, which is a warm, smooth, operatic voice, sort of the complete opposite of Celine’s. So what I try to do now in order to keep from damaging my vocal chords, is use my own singing voice as a base, and flavour it with Celinishness.

Same with the look, I don’t really look that much like Celine. It’s not like I get stopped on the street everyday and people say “hey you look like Celine Dion”. For me it’s all about getting the character as a whole and I think that’s what people enjoy about my performances.

 

Darren: I have to say that one of my favourite videos of you’res is the ‘’ My Love ‘’ video... the costume, the hair, makeup, the actions and you’re voice was pretty damn good. But was there a certain reason why you chose to do a video on that performance, and how particular are you when it comes to putting a video together?

 

Laura: Thanks Darren! I just liked the way that song was shot, and I know it’s a big song for Celine fans. It’s one of my favourites as well. I wish they had of captured my introduction though, as you know, I love doing the between song banter. I'm pretty particular about the videos I put out, but apparently there are always some viewers who are more particular than I am.

 

Darren: You have chatted with members of Celine’s own band and a few of her dancers over the internet… what do they make of what you do and did they give you any tips or feedback?

 

Laura: Well, a couple of years ago I got a call in the middle of the night from Las Vegas and it was a bunch of Celine’s dancers partying after a Celine show. They were watching The Celine Dion Workout on YouTube and decided to give me a call. I knew which guy it was right away because I recognized the voice from the few words he had said backstage in the “AND” DVD. They put me on the speaker phone and we had a little chat. They were really friendly told me how funny they thought the videos were and to keep up the good work. That was pretty cool, I’m glad for the most part people know that there is nothing mean spirited in there.

 

Darren: Have you ever seen Celine live, as you’re obviously a fan… and like most fans would you like to meet the lady herself?

 

Laura: Yes I’ve seen her once, in Montreal on the Taking Chances tour. She was amazing of course and totally lived up to expectations.

 

Of course I’d love to meet her, I’m a HUGE fan of hers.

 

Darren: Cool, I’ll see if I can pull a few strings...

 

Laura: Sounds good!

 

Darren: Some fans of singers/celebrities take imitation as the sincerest form of flattery, but do you have any stories to tell, where fans of the people you impersonate have been less than kind to you?

 

Laura: I have very rarely met anyone in real life that had a problem with what I do, in fact I don’t think I ever have. Online is another story though. Some Celine fans really take offence to my work, and like to stand up for her. In some people’s opinion I definitely cross the line. But I think that’s to be expected considering the level of devotion to Celine some of her fans have. And I do have a line that I won’t cross, it’s just a little more liberal than some would want. And that’s okay with me, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion.

 

One common “suggestion” is that I quit being Celine and just be myself, which is kind of a funny thing to tell an actor…

 

Darren: At present, you have a new show ‘’ A new GAY…’’ based on Celine’s Vegas show, but with a twist.

It has the songs from ‘’A new day…’’ and amazing costumes from the ‘’Taking Chances World Tour’’, complete with dancers, backing singers, and props, which was created for the Gay Pride Festival in Canada… with a bit of comedy thrown in for good measure.

I have seen a few videos and photos of the show and rehearsals, and it looked like you all had a blast putting this together, and have one heck of a show, congratulations!

 

What made you put on a show of this size, as it looks like no expense was spared, especially when it came to your incredible costumes… and is there a possibility of you touring with it in the future?

 

Laura: ANG came about when the Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre asked to meet with me to discuss show ideas for the 2010 Gay Pride Festival. Toronto has the world’s biggest Pride festival and Buddies is always very involved. I told them I could put the show together complete with dancers, backup singers, costumes etc, and we could work in lots of stuff specific to the Pride environment. We had a great team of dancers led by Scott Freethy. We did mostly Celine songs and a couple that we could only imagine Celine doing like Freddie Mercury’s “Somebody To Love”. We even did the Celine Dion Workout live on stage with Kate and Helen from the original video, and of course lots of between song chatting to the audience. I did go all out with the costumes – they are really fabulous, but they needed to be. There has been a lot of interest in touring this show but we haven’t put anything definite together yet.

 

Darren: I and and other Celine fans really hope that you do take this incredible show on the road and eventually bring it to Europe, and of course London will have to be you’re first stop for obvious reasons! And I would happily be you’re UK assistant: bottles of Fiji water check, Lays potato chips check, and you want to go shoe shopping... car to New Bond Street check. ha ha.

 

Laura: Oh that sounds like a hoot! I really would love to bring the show to Europe some day.

 

Darren: And if you do let’s just hope they don’t tow the tour bus away from the venue before the show is over huh…

Because I really can’t believe they towed you’re car away from outside Buddies a few weeks back while you were being interviewed, having just finished you’re show. Did you go down there to reclaim it as Celine?

 

Laura: Oh that was quite a morning! I was doing radio interview and I was there as myself so no – “Celine” wasn’t running around Church Street at 7am. Thank goodness. It was during the G20 summit and I guess they went nuts clearing the street of cars.

 

Darren: Going back to ‘’The Love Guru’’, how did the opportunity arise for you to appear in the movie, and what was the whole experience like, as after all you were on set with Justin Timberlake, and Mike Myers…

 

Laura: Basically my agent got a call from the casting agent asking me to be part of the new Mike Myers movie. Apparently they had seen The Celine Dion Workout.

 

Justin was pretty amazing really. He was very friendly and had a great sense of humour on set. They were very long days because he had to film all his stuff before rushing off to begin his Australian tour. He was priceless in the IDAN scene, his physical humour was just fantastic.

 

I didn’t have much interaction with Mike although he was good enough to come over and introduce himself and thank me for my hard work.

 

Darren: When you came up with the idea of the Celine Dion Workout video, did you ever imagine the response that you got regarding it, because as you said it’s opened quite a few new doors for you. And is it true that there is possibly a follow up to this video planned?

 

Laura: I had no idea the response it would get. You just never know what’s going to click with people. Yes, it’s true that we’ve shot another workout video, just haven’t had time to edit it yet.

 

Darren: I’ve heard that you also filmed other segments in ‘The Love Guru’ that were not included in the final movie… could you possibly give us an exclusive and share with us what they included?

 

Laura: One of the scenes that never made it to the movie was Celine in her dressing room getting ready for a show, with her eye on a hockey game on TV. When Romany Malco’s character scores a goal, Celine does the chest thump as a salute to the team.

 

Darren: Have you any plans to attend Celine’s new show in Vegas next year?

 

Laura: I certainly would like to but no definite plans as of yet.

 

Darren: What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far and why?

 

Laura: Boy it’s hard to say. I’ve done a lot of interesting things in the performance world but I’m extremely happy right now working with the cast that first came together for A New Gay. It feels great to set out to do something on such a large scale and accomplish it. I’m really happy to have been involved in a lot of charity galas, which have raised money and awareness for great causes. And my first experience performing as EllaVis in front of that huge Collingwood crowd was pretty unforgettable. What an immense rush!

 

Darren: Like any job/career, there are obviously positives and negatives to what you do… what is the most enjoyable and most challenging part of your job?

 

Laura: The best part for me is the audience interaction. I love to surprise audiences, to make them laugh, or move them in some way. That’s really what it’s about for me. That’s true particularly for live performances but also for video work. The negative I guess would just be that as a performer, you don’t always get to do the things you dream of doing, at least not yet.

 

Darren: Could you share one of those dreams with us?

 

Laura: Well, for one I would like spend more time on my classical singing. I was on the TV show Bathroom Divas (kind of an American Idol for opera singers), which was really my first exposure to opera. That's another project I auditioned for on a dare - you never know what you’ll end up doing unless you try different things. I don't know if it was ever aired in Europe, but it was actually a very entertaining show if you ever get a chance to see it. It ran for two seasons, I was on season two, and it has been aired in Canada and the US several times.

Since that time I have been working fairly steadily with my singing coach Elizabeth. It's something I really enjoy. One day I would really like to release a classical album.

 

Darren: When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing… how do you relax?

 

Laura: I’m really into knitting these days.

 

Darren: What can we look forward to next from Laura Landauer?

 

Laura: As far as Celine goes, this week I’m shooting a short film currently being produced for Bravo Network called “The Knockout”. It’s based on the book “Call me Mimi” by Francis Chalifour. I’ve been working with a fight co-ordinator because get this, Celine is going to be duking it out with Mimi in the boxing ring! It’s going to be so much fun. (Hope to have some promo pics for you soon)

 

My plans for non-Celine related projects include doing opera vocals over heavy metal music - complete with videos.

 

Darren: That does sound intriguing... so Bravo are actually bringing MTV’s Celebrity Death match to life, so to speak. I cannot wait to see it and I’m trying so hard to visualise Celine in boxing gloves, baggy shorts, those boots and giving Mariah a few upper cuts and right hooks, ha ha.

 

I’m looking forward to receiving the promo pics, that’s very kind of you!

 

Laura: Oh, I don’t want to confuse things here. This has nothing to do with Mariah. Mimi is the main character of the novel that imagines she is best friends with Celine Dion. But yes, boxing shorts and boots are all part of it! I’m very excited about it. Darren: Ahh ok... it sounds interesting!

It’s been so long, too long actually, since you have posted one of your amazing videos online, and I know how crazy busy you are but, can we look forward to maybe a ‘’Celine holiday message’’ or another video early in the New Year?

 

Laura: I’m hoping to get something out by the end of the year. I just need 6 more hours in the day!!!!

Darren: Laura thank you so much, for speaking with me today, it’s been amazing… take care, and I hope to see you in action in the near future.

 

Laura: Thank YOU so much Darren for inviting me to do this interview. It’s been fun!

Talk to you soon and I’ll certainly keep you posted on what’s next.

 

Darren: I’ll look forward to it... Happy Holidays to you and you’re family.

 

Laura: You too Darren. Enjoy!

 

 

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Exclusive Interview with Laura Landauer.

December 2010 - www.celinedionforum.com

 

* Thanks to Shaun & Frida with their support on this interview!

 

Laura’s official website: http://lauralandauer.com/

 

Laura’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GypsyMiller

[davidjag79]

WOW Thanks Darren!!

[Timster]

A very in-depth interview Darren, well done. She is very good at what she does, and it's nice to know she's a big fan of Celine in real life.

[CelineAndRene]

Great, thanks!!!

[celinesounds]

love it, many thanks

[riobeard11]

Thanks, Darren! This was pretty interesting

[CelineDionFan710]

WOw very interesting thanks darren for doing this.

[celine-rc]

Thanks Darren. I really liked it. I didn't know her more than just for ''the Céline Dion Workout'' and stuff like that but I like her. She's interresting. Plus, she from Montréal!

[Céline74]

Thank you Darren!

[NancyxxM]

Thank you, this interview is great

[I Love You]

Thank you so much Darren, you are amazing for getting these interviews.

[sunnyceline]

Great job...thanks Darren. I was hoping she would be with the fans on opening day/night for the Celine Fan Meeting...perhaps to take a picture with us!

[luciusbright]

Thank you!

her Workout video is funny, I like it, LOL

[QueenCeline]

Darren you're the best! Thanks for another wonderful interview

[remykyes]

Thanks Darren! Really love the fact she thought Celine was BORING and then becoming a fan after researching her and finding out otherwise. Edited December 20, 2010 at 06:25 AM by remykyes

[ghazal]

thx darren.

[duri]

Thank you very much, I also love a fact she had changed opinion about Céline.

[J-Man]

Great choice for an interview Darren. Definitley the next best thing to getting the woman herself. Laura's videos are a hoot and she's spot on with her impressions. Really fans who criticise her should get a sense of humour! I was surprised to hear she hasn't had any feedback from Celine yet. I would imagine Celine would find her hilarious.

[Shamrock_1982]

Thanks guys...

 

I wanted to do a ''different'' kind of interview, from another angle... and for me, it had to be Laura!

 

I'm a huge fan of hers, and in my opinion, she is the best Celine inpersonator on the planet, who puts 110% into her shows and videos... shes a huge Celine fan, she has a heart of gold, and is truely one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

 

So a huge thanks again to Laura!

[Ted]

Thank you so much Darren!!

[Sofie]

Thanks Darren, it was a great interview as always.

[Der_Griffon]

That was a really interesting interview, Darren! Thank you!

[celinedream]

can you believe i've never seen the Love Guru? I have to see it now. Great interview as always Darren

 

just one little detail:

Darren: I have to say that one of my favourite videos of you’res is the ‘’ My Love ‘’ video...

it should read: yours instead of you'res

 

hope this helps for next time

[C_Airin_D]

Thanks!

[No1IrishFan]

Great interview, thanks Darren!

[GoldenLeaf]

It was nice to read. Thanks for sharing this exclusive interview with us Darren!

[Shaun]

Thanks Darren! Really love the fact she thought Celine was BORING and then becoming a fan after researching her and finding out otherwise.

 

Isn't this what everyone thinks? LOL.

 

Always remember when Celine appeared on The X Factor in 2007 in the UK, everyone associated with it suddenly changed their tune on Celine and realized she was a fairly down to earth, funny and interesting person.

 

Anyway, well done to Darren on another exclusive. A great read.

[Flaca]

Interesting interview.

[Shamrock_1982]

As Laura promised, here is a still from the short upcoming movie she mentioned in the interview, as well as a poster!

 

Thanks again Laura.

[CSCfan]

Fantastic! Tnx for sharing Darren